Romeo And Juliet To Be Turned Into Pop-Rock Opera (And 11 Other Things You Didn't Know About The Bard)

William Shakespeare's classic tragedy Romeo and Juliet is to be turned into a pop-rock opera.

Buyers at the Marche du Film in Cannes are being asked to back the new adaptation of the bard's work, which promises trashy trailer park divisions, rock, rap and pop.

Producers of Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song, shot in New Zealand, described it as a version for the YouTube generation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Producer Alastair Carruther said this version of Shakespeare's classic tragedy is "almost entirely sung"

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11 Things You Didn't Know About Shakespeare

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Shakespeare's work contains the first recordings of over 2000 English words including elbow, lackluster and moonbeam.
PICTURE: Artfinder

He is also responsible for inventing a huge number of expressions still in common use today. These include: fancy free; dash to pieces; lay it on with a trowel; rhyme nor reason, and wear your heart on your sleeve
PICTURE: Wikimedia

In Shakespeare's time theatres had no curtain and no scenery, and lighting was just daylight or candlelight, so the set had to be written into the play and described by the actors.
PICTURE: Wikimedia

In 1613 the original Globe theatre burned down when a cannon shot during a performance of Henry VIII caused it to go up in flames.

There is evidence to suggest that the William Shakespeare did not in fact write the Shakespeare plays: about 50 other candidates have been suggested, include Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. Among those who doubt Shakespeare's authorship are Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud and Charlie Chaplin.
PICTURE: Wikimedia

The First Folio was the first extensive collection of Shakespeare's plays, and was published after his death in 1623. It is the only source for about 20 of Shakespeare's plays, which otherwise would be lost.

Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, made gloves for a living but in the 1570s he was prosecuted four times for breaking the law by trading in wool and money-lending.
PICTURE: Wikimedia

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Shakespeare wrote about one tenth of the most quotable quotations ever written or spoken in the English language.

When Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, she was already three months pregnant with their first child.
PICTURE: Wikimedia

Although he spelled it all kinds of ways throughout his life (such as Willm Shaksp and William Shakspere) he never actually signed his name 'William Shakespeare'.
PICTURE: Wikimedia

The family line ended in 1670 when Shakespeare's daughter Judith died. She was the only one of his three children to have children, and they all died young.
PICTURE: Wikimedia